The present invention relates to an earth working machine, for example a road milling machine or a surface miner, having                a machine frame;        a milling unit that is carried on the machine frame and encompasses a milling tool and a milling tool housing that shields the milling tool with respect to the external environment of the earth working machine; and        a receiving conveying device that is operationally embodied to convey earth material, removed by the milling tool, away from the milling unit,        the receiving conveying device, both in an operationally ready operating state and in a non-operationally-ready installation state, being mounted on the earth working machine movably relative to the machine frame, such that in the operational state of the receiving conveying device, a portion of the receiving conveying device which is located closer to the milling tool is coupled by means of a first motion coupling for motion together with a part of the milling tool housing which is movable relative to the machine frame; and such that in order to establish the installation state, the first motion coupling is disengageable, and that portion of the receiving conveying device which is located closer to the milling tool is swingably suspendable on the machine frame.        
The present invention furthermore relates to a method for temporarily distancing a receiving conveying device from a milling unit of a substrate-removing earth working machine, in particular a road milling machine or a surface miner, that is operationally ready at the beginning of the method, the milling unit encompassing a milling tool and a milling tool housing that shields the milling tool, the receiving conveying device conveying substrate material, removed during milling operation of the earth working machine, away from the milling unit, the method encompassing the following steps:                a) bringing a portion, located closer to the milling tool housing, of the receiving conveying device closer to the machine frame;        b) connecting that portion of the receiving conveying device which is located closer to the milling tool housing to the machine frame and thereby creating a swingable suspension of the receiving conveying device on the machine frame; and        c) disengaging a first motion coupling between that portion of the receiving conveying device which is located closer to the milling tool housing and a part of the milling tool housing which is movable relative to the machine frame.        
An earth working machine of the species and a method of the species are known from DE 10 2014 011 878 A1. The milling unit, having the milling tool and the milling tool housing that shields the milling tool with respect to the external environment, must occasionally be disengaged and detached from the machine frame. In order to minimize stoppage times of the earth working machine, as a rule another milling unit is installed on the machine frame immediately after detachment of a milling unit.
According to the present Application, the milling unit as a rule is fastened onto the milling-ready earth working machine on the underside of the machine frame, and is located between a front and a rear drive-unit arrangement in a longitudinal direction of the earth working machine. Because the movement space is limited by the drive units in a longitudinal machine direction (parallel to the roll axis) and by the machine frame in a vertical machine direction (parallel to the yaw axis), as a rule the milling unit can be detached from the machine frame, after disengagement from the machine frame, only in a transverse machine direction (parallel to the pitch axis).
A “milling tool housing” for purposes of the present Application has lateral delimiting walls that shield the external environment parallel to the pitch axis with respect to the milling tool. The lateral delimiting walls are also referred to among specialists as “edge protectors.” The milling tool housing furthermore comprises a front delimiting wall that precedes the milling tool in a context of forward motion of the earth working machine and shields the external environment in a direction parallel to the roll axis of the milling tool. The front delimiting wall is also referred to among specialists as a “hold-down device.” The milling tool housing furthermore comprises a rear delimiting wall that trails behind the milling tool in a context of forward motion of the earth working machine. This rear delimiting wall, also referred to among specialists as a “scraper,” again shields the external environment parallel to the roll axis with respect to the milling tool. The shielding directions of the front and rear delimiting walls are opposite to one another. The milling-ready milling tool is located between the front and the rear delimiting wall, and between the lateral delimiting walls.
The problem presented by the subjects of the species (earth working machine and method) is the following:
In many cases, the lateral delimiting walls of the milling tool housing protrude in a longitudinal machine direction beyond the front delimiting wall of the milling tool housing. A longitudinal end of the receiving conveying device which is located closer to the milling unit is located between those portions of the lateral delimiting walls which protrude forward beyond the front delimiting wall. Collision-free detachment of the milling unit from the machine frame is therefore possible only when the lateral delimiting walls and the milling-unit-proximal longitudinal end of the receiving conveying device no longer overlap (when viewed along the pitch axis). The milling-unit-proximal longitudinal end of the receiving conveying device is therefore temporarily moved away from the milling unit toward the front, i.e. in a forward travel direction of the earth working machine.
DE 10 2014 011 878 A1 teaches, for that purpose, firstly to bring that longitudinal end of the receiving conveying device which is closer to the milling unit and is mounted on the front delimiting wall, the front delimiting wall being vertically adjustable via actuator, closer to the machine frame, and then to fasten it swingably on the machine frame and disengage the mounting connection of the longitudinal end to the front delimiting wall. The milling-unit-distal longitudinal end of the receiving conveying device meanwhile remains mounted translationally slidingly on the machine frame.
In accordance with the known method and the known earth working machine, the milling-unit-proximal longitudinal end of the receiving conveying device is deliberately suspended, using obliquely extending connecting means, swingably on the machine frame in such a way that the entire receiving conveying device is preloaded by its weight in a longitudinal machine direction away from the milling unit. If the receiving conveying device is left to move freely, for example after detachment of a securing connecting means that initially secures the milling-unit-proximal longitudinal end in its longitudinal position in a longitudinal machine direction, the milling-unit-proximal longitudinal end pivots on the swingable connecting means, around its suspension point on the machine frame, away from the milling unit. Because it is slidingly mounted, the milling-unit-distal longitudinal end likewise moves in slidingly guided fashion with a motion component that is directed away from the milling unit.
This solution is disadvantageous firstly because the weight-driven pivoting motion of the milling-unit-proximal longitudinal end of the receiving conveying device can be controlled only to a limited extent because of the large mass of the receiving conveying device. A further disadvantage is that, as a function of the oblique orientation of the connecting means, the weight-driven motion drive of the milling-unit-proximal longitudinal end of the receiving conveying device functions in only one direction (as a rule, away from the milling unit), but once a milling unit has again been placed on the machine frame, the milling-unit-proximal longitudinal end must be moved again closer to the milling unit and connected to the front delimiting wall for motion together. This approaching motion of the milling-unit-proximal longitudinal end against the weight of the receiving conveying device either requires additional mechanical effort or an elevated energy expenditure, and/or permits the milling-unit-proximal longitudinal end to be moved only a short distance away from the front delimiting wall.